The flexibility of planar triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) enables them to be embedded into structures with complex geometries and to conform with any deformation of these structures. In return, the embedded TENGs function as either strain‐sensitive active sensors or energy harvesters while negligibly affecting the structure's original mechanical properties. This advantage inspires a new class of multifunctional materials where compliant TENGs are distributed into local operational units of mechanical metamaterial, dubbed TENG‐embedded mechanical metamaterials. This new class of metamaterial inherits the advantages of a traditional mechanical metamaterial, in that the deformation of the internal topology of material enables unusual mechanical properties. The concept is illustrated with experimental investigations and finite element simulations of prototypes based on two exemplar metamaterial geometries where functions of self‐powered sensing, energy harvesting, as well as the designated mechanical behavior are investigated. This work provides a new framework in producing multifunctional triboelectric devices.
The objective of this study is to develop a novel methodology to assess the energy flow between a nonlinear energy sink (NES) and the primary system it is attached to in terms of energy orientation, which is directly related to the sign of the power present on the primary system. To extend the work done in previous studies, which have focused primarily on the analytical treatment, characterization, and performance evaluation of NES as passive nonlinear dampers for structures under different types of excitations, this study incorporates a methodology for determining whether energy is entering or leaving a primary oscillator when interacting with an NES, by means of considering the power flow of the primary oscillator. Several current measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the NES at extracting and dissipating energy irreversibly are considered through numerical simulations of systems with different damping cases of the NES. Each case provides a different dissipation scenario in the combined system, which is subjected to different types of base excitation signals such as impulse and seismic records. The methodology is further validated experimentally using a two degrees-of-freedom system with an NES attached to the second mass. Comparisons of the modeled responses versus the measured responses are provided for several physical damping realization scenarios in the NES.
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